This is going to be a breakdown of the basic outline of the game I am currently working on, since it is coming slower than I would like.
I probably should have been writing these up for all of my games, and might go back and add the first few in later.
The current game is a turn based strategy game similar in nature to Game #2 (it is basically the same game with a different theme and in a different programming language/platform).
The 10 Things
For each of these games, I tried to sit down and go through the list of 10 things every game needs on paper and see if the game filled all 10 categories or if it could be coerced into filling them. This is the breakdown of my latest efforts.
#1 The Goal
The goal of this game, as in most war themed strategy games, is to completely eradicate your opponents units from the field of play. Wipe them out, all of them.
That was easy right?
#2 The Rules
My first instinct when making this game was, “Oh I know what the rules will be, gonna program them in, shouldn’t have to write them down.” Boy was I wrong.
First of all, it helps if you can with a game like this to do a paper test to see kind of how it will play and what might and might not work. To do that, you need written down rules.
I have a list of some of the basic rules:
– Each team has 1 to N (for an as yet undetermined number of N) ships in a given round.
– Ships have a speed and can move that many spaces per turn
– Ships have armor
– Ships have turrets
– Turrets can attack enemy ships within their range to reduce their armor
– When a ships armor is reduced to 0 that ship is destroyed
– When all the opposing players ships are destroyed, you win the game
– Players take turns moving, then damage is dealt at the same time
– Players cannot see enemy ships that are out of sight range of their ships
– Each round has a limited number of turns so the game does not go on forever
– If a round ends where neither player has destroyed the enemy completely, it is a draw (for now).
– May have a series of rounds for a “campaign”.
There may be some rules I have left out here but this is the basics of the game.
#3 Interaction
What about this games forces players to react to one another?
The primary reaction should come when players spot enemy ships. They will then get to interact with them by attacking or retreating away from them.
Simple, not a whole lot of interaction. (This may need to change?)
#4 A Catch up Feature
This one is actually a bit perplexing and took some thinking. How to give somebody who has fallen behind a chance to win?
The 2 solutions that I have come up with so far are:
– If a player has 2 fewer ships than his opponent, let him move second.
– If a player has 2 fewer ships than his opponent, let him call in a ship for reinforcement.
This bit is still a work in progress.
#5 Inertia
We want the game to end eventually, and according to Mark Rosewater it should be before the player wants it to be over.
With this in mind, the game will have a turn system that ends the game after the allotted number of turns have passed. What that number is has not been determined yet.
#6 Surprise
Surprise is the elements of the game the player cannot predict. This is usually based on hidden information or randomness.
As with many strategy games, the surprise in this game derives from a fog of war that hides enemy position and movement.
Moving a ship to find an enemy ship nearby, having a ship you can’t see attack one of your ships, each of these surprises the player.
#7 Strategy
What about this game allows a player to get better over time?
Learning which units to scout with, how to best order your attacks to maximize the damage, and learning which units to put into a round for the good of the overall campaign.
These are the areas that I suspect will allow a player to get better over time.
#8 Fun
By far the hardest element of game design to predict and design. I have no idea if this game will be fun. It is based off of several other games that I find fun, but it is hard to say if it is.
This is a whole topic that many have discussed and debated but the proof is in the pudding. You will find out when you ask people to play your game.
#9 Flavor
A game that was just numbers and increasing and decreasing them would be pretty boring. But when those numbers represent the armor of your frigate as it takes fire from an enemy battleship, they become more meaningful.
The flavor of this game is not complete but has its basis in the sic-fi grand space battle realm.
#10 A Hook
How do we get people to play this game? A cool trailer, awesome screenshots, perhaps a compelling description?
This is marketing, but as a game designer and creator it is important. Why should people play your game?
I think the hook will be commanding your fleet and making the choices that keep your ships from destruction and lead to victory. Not necessarily the strongest hook, but the best I could come up with in short notice.
A Work in Progress
Clearly several of these points are not very strong and need a bit more fleshing out. As I get more games under my belt, the experience will hopefully lend me some insight into some of the more tricky points so I can design around them better.
